


The Tides That Bind Us

by lululawlawlu



Series: 10 Days of LawLu works [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 10 Days of LawLu, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, merman Law, shipwreck hunting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-03-09 05:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18910585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawlawlu/pseuds/lululawlawlu
Summary: It comes to Luffy in recurring dreams—sometimes as clouded visions, sometimes clear as the tropical waters it supposedly rests in. The minute details are ever-changing as the tides, but one thing is always constant—a red string coiled around his finger. It leads him down into the depths of the ocean, pulls him toward the thrill of discovering the holy grail of sunken ships. What was once the pirate king’s is now waiting for him, so what is he waiting for?





	1. The String

**Author's Note:**

> This work was a collaboration with tentaclemage on tumblr who created [this absolutely beautiful artwork](https://tentaclemage.tumblr.com/post/174791547545/day-6-stringchains-for-10-days-of-lawlu-my-part) for the 10 Days of LawLu 2018. She also titled the fic.

“Find anything?” Nami calls across the calm, shimmering water.

“Nothing again!” Luffy calls back, lifting his diving mask, flippered feet propelling him forward, swimming behind Zoro on their way back to their boat—the ‘Going Merry’ as it’s proclaimed along the side in swirling white calligraphy.

“Shit. You sure it’s out here?” Sanji asks, leaning on the railing next to Nami.

“Just trust him. We’ll find it,” Zoro grumbles as he loops an arm around the boat’s metal ladder to anchor himself enough to pull off his flippers and toss them onboard. “Luffy’s got a sixth-sense about this kinda stuff.”

In the two years Luffy’s crew has been together, Luffy has lead them to find no less than five shipwrecks which is nothing short of miraculous in this vocation.  
To Luffy it's thrilling to uncover lost ships and the secrets they hold. It’s fun to try out Franky’s new machines for recovering lost items from the ocean floor. It’s interesting to hear Robin tell stories about the history of the objects they recover. It’s even pretty nice getting some fame from doing it, but it all just seems like practice for the greatest find of his life.

It comes to Luffy in recurring dreams—sometimes as clouded visions, sometimes clear as the tropical waters it supposedly rests in. The minute details are ever-changing as the tides, but one thing is always constant—a red string coiled around his finger. It leads him down into the depths of the ocean, pulls him toward the thrill of discovering the holy grail of sunken ships. There it lies on the ocean floor, it’s split hull revealing a wealth of relics from the past, pirate treasures once coveted, now forgotten. The red string winds its way around them enticing Luffy in as if telling him that all this is meant to be his. What was once the pirate king’s is now waiting for him, so what is he waiting for? 

Luffy never makes it to the ship. He always wakes before then, murky visions still swimming in his mind. 

It’s the same when he wakes the next morning and even though he’s still half asleep, he’s aware enough to realize it’s just been another dream.  
Others might feel discouraged or taunted by such visions, but just the thought that he’s destined for such a treasure only fuels Luffy’s determination.  
He hops out of bed for a quick shower, and then it’s down to the galley for some breakfast. 

The kitchen’s abandoned when he gets there, and his calls for Sanji are only answered in tinny echoes from the ship’s metal walls. Since Sanji refuses to have a microwave in his kitchen, Luffy will just have to settle on a handful of uncooked hot dogs and a mug of orange soda for now.

Luffy pads down the empty hall to the deck. The dawn sunlight is painting itself into the sky along a trail of sleepy blues and faded purples. It shys away behind an expanse of big, fluffy, violet-grey clouds, leaves little need for his straw hat to protect him from its rays. The crisp morning air sends a shiver along his bare skin.  
He shoves his last two hotdogs into his mouth, tosses his hat onto one of the deck chairs and shimmies into his wetsuit. It might be too early for everyone else to be awake but adventure is calling him to dive. So he figures screw the buddy-system just this once. He’ll be down and back before anyone knows he was gone. 

It’s a short tumble off the boat and Luffy finds himself in another world. He takes a moment to clear his diving mask so he can take in the unearthly beauty of the ocean. The brilliant, clear waters seem to stretch on forever as he descends, fading into lucid cyan hues. He can’t remember if the sky is blue because it's reflecting the beauty of the ocean or if it's the other way around, but no matter how many times he dives, he’ll never get used to the majesty of it. Bright splashes of colour decorate the expanse, sparking along the scales of fish that dance before and around him, seeming to skirt the line between apprehension and curiosity. 

Corals dot the ocean floor—an amalgamation of calcium-coated apartment buildings for the sea creatures to take refuge in. He laughs to himself, imagining the clown fish gossiping about their neighbor the sea turtle and their intimidating landlord Reef Shark who forcibly evicted Yellow Stingray by eating him. And then there’s the poison-spined stonefish trying it’s best to stay camouflaged—that neighbor who seems quiet, is scarcely seen and is probably secretly in the mafia or something. 

A strong current shoves Luffy, nearly pushing him into the corals, much too close to that stonefish for his comfort. It suddenly occurs to him that the sea is starting to look a little too dark, cloudy with sediment being stirred up from the bottom of the seabed. There's very few things that could mean, and he's pretty certain it's not the sand-dwellers having an impromptu rave party at their residence. It's clear indication of a storm rolling in.

Luffy doesn't want to turn back. He reasons the ocean has got to be far more turbulent on the surface. As much as he doesn't really want to face that, he also knows his crew isn't going to be pleased if they find out he was diving alone. Originally, he'd be able to argue that he’s fine. Everything is alright and they're just overreacting, but the threat of a storm is real. A storm leaves him with no way to insist that he hadn’t faced any danger. Thanks storm, thanks for ruining all the fun.  
He's about to give in and turn back when something catches his eye- something shining and brilliant nearly within arm’s reach. It’s the one thing that never loses its lustre no matter how long it's been buried underwater by sand or corals—gold. 

Now he really can't turn back for all the storms in the world. Gold is renowned as a substance. It’s a coveted and priceless kind of treasure—a treasure brought by pirates—pirates on ships—ships that were, especially in these waters, subject to shipwrecks. Luffy can't help the temptation. Maybe, just maybe, he can wait out a storm on the ocean floor finding treasures. He feels a familiar tug on his little finger. It’s as if the red string in his dreams is pulling him to it. This could really be it. This could be the greatest find of his life! Just maybe his destiny has lead him to this moment on this day. The fated treasure might actually be within his grasp. His heart is racing, pumping adrenaline through his veins. It makes him feel so alive and he can't imagine for a second how lacking his life might feel if he couldn't enjoy the thrill of rediscovering long-forgotten treasures. 

He struggles forward against the increasing strength of the current to make it to the beautifully sculpted golden piece. He kicks his flippered feet, attempting to keep himself at the spot while eager fingers brush the sand away from his new-found treasure.

Luffy knows he should take proper protocol into account and map out where he's found the object but in his haste to get into the sea, he hasn't brought a camera or any of the right gear with him. He tells himself that for now, he just needs to make sure it will remain uncovered even through the storm and identifiable under all the stirred up sediment that's sure to settle over it once again after the storm dies down. For now he won’t move it, but he needs to make sure it can be found again on the next dive. 

This piece is a sculpture, an enchanting little thing, rounded and smoothed over, but bearing the resemblance of a woman’s face with some inscriptions near the base that Luffy isn't sure are any language he knows. Something like this is sure to be part of an even bigger collection of treasures- a wealth of beautiful antiquities. He digs his fingertips into the sand, feeling around for more. 

The current is picking up, pushing against him as he tries to fight against straying from the spot. He tries to anchor himself with his feet, but something sharp pokes the bottom of his flippered foot. He recoils reflexively. His mind jumps to the spiny little stonefish, but it probably couldn't be that. Their stings are supposedly so excruciatingly painful that they test your will to live. Sure it feels like he got poked with a needle, but that’s all. 

What matters to Luffy is that he find any other pieces. They might even lead him to the remnants of a ship. His mind is so preoccupied with the possibility of finding gold, it doesn't immediately occur to him just how weird and tingly his foot is starting to feel- not until the weird tingly-painful sensation reaches his ankle.

Oh fuck. It really was the stonefish, wasn’t it? And now it’s poisons are slowly creeping through his bloodstream. Here he is, several meters away from the boat, and he's not sure how well he can really swim with this odd, painful, pins-and-needles sensation creeping up his leg. He's trying not to panic. He really is. It's just that stonefish stings can be lethal, especially in cases where it's not possible to get medical attention right away. 

How shitty would it be if he had just stumbled on a hint to uncovering the legendary shipwreck only to have it end here and now. He doesn't want to think about the possibility of dying. No, he is going to be ok. The pain is just getting worse, so much worse—like the poison working its way through his blood is ripping out all of his veins as it goes. It really could be for all he knows. He’s no doctor. 

Maybe if he just cut off his foot—no, Zoro had tried to cut off his own foot when he'd gotten stung by a jellyfish and it didn't help him. He just ended up having to suffer through the sting and get a ton of stitches along his ankle, Not to mention the crew will never let him live that down.  
Luffy just has to make it back to the boat somehow. Now, to figure out where the hell the boat's gotten to. The current has been pushing him probably since before he realized it was happening and he's not really sure where he is in relation to the boat anymore. He can't really see anything very well through the increasingly murky water either, let alone a distant boat. 

He should probably just ask the guy swimming over—the guy with the shiny gold earrings, tattoos all over his bare torso and tentacles where legs should be.  
He's not sure if hallucinations are included in the symptoms of getting stung by a stonefish because he did not expect to see another person, let alone another person who's entire bottom half is just all tentacles, like some kinda octopus-merman type of guy. He's never believed in mermen and he’s not really sure if octopus-guys count as mermen anyway, but whatever this guy really is or is not, he seems nice enough. Luffy lets himself be scooped up in his arms. It kind of feels good to be carried against his body. It’s comfortable and warm. Luffy’s starting to feel a little sleepy. Maybe he can just close his eyes for a minute—just a minute.  
Luffy’s unsure if he’s dreaming or not when he opens his eyes. Everything feels so lucid, so real. He’s moving toward the hull of a centuries-old pirate ship smattered with corals, a tell-tale sign of its assimilation into the environment. It’s unmistakable pirate flag cascades down it’s broken mast, half-buried in the seabed. He wants to explore it—the veritable treasure trove just calling out to him, but his eyelids feel heavy, so heavy. 

When Luffy opens his eyes again, he finds himself in his bed, unmistakable red string coiled around his finger, tugging at him insistently to get up and follow. He’s dying to get back to the ship, so grabs up his hat, situating it on his head as he lets the string pull him down the hallway of his ship, his bare feet slapping against the metal floor as he runs out onto the deck. Waves rock against the boat making his feet unsteady. A gust of wind rushes over the deck, snatching the straw hat from his head, tossing it out over the ocean. His red string tugs at him to follow, but he stops short, his breath stuck in his throat. It’s the guy—the octopus guy. He reaches out effortlessly plucking Luffy’s hat off of the wind with a lithe tentacle, holding it out to him. He gestures with his hand, red string around his own finger, as if urging Luffy to take it.


	2. You Can’t Spell ‘Hostility’ without ‘Host’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's Luffy," Luffy reminds him, reaching across the table to snatch up a chicken leg from one of the plates. "I'm 19," he adds for good measure.
> 
> "Yeah, we know who you are. Of all the people-," Law grumbles, slithering into a chair. "You're just lucky I couldn't see your face under that damn diving mask."

"Get the fuck out."

"Law!"

"Well, he's looking better now, so I want him gone," the tattooed octopus guy demands, turning away from Luffy, tapping a tentacle agitatedly on the tile of the kitchen floor.

"You don't have to be so rude about it. Besides, you're the one who brought him here," the other man—a blond human who's introduced himself as Roci points out. He pours steaming potatoes from a pot into a big bowl, little pieces falling to the floor.

“He’s not even showing any gratitude for having his life saved,” Law sneers, waving around a knife in a way that some might interpret as menacing.

Luffy _had_ said 'Thanks,' and he _had_ offered to help with dinner despite the numbness in his foot and the light-headed drowsiness that he’s still experiencing from the treatment. He doesn’t even question why a half-octopus guy is so into human medicine or why he brought him to this blond guy's tiny apartment instead of an actual hospital. The two of them do seem like pretty good people so Luffy’s not going to complain or anything.

 

And while Roci had refused Luffy’s help in the kitchen, he did have him set the table. But that took him all of two minutes. So now Luffy's stuck sitting here at the dining table with his leg propped up, getting the side-eye from one all too salty octopus guy.

With nothing to do Luffy can't really help but watch and listen in on the two men in the kitchen area. The space is crammed with far too many appliances. There's only a tiny sliver of counter space where they're crowded together. In fact, the entire apartment seems like it's intentionally tiny just to contrast how tall Roci is for comedic effect.

A chunk of wet potato squelches under Roci’s foot, his ankle twisting one way, his body he other.

Luffy jumps up from the table in a reflexive attempt to help. He maintains verticality for a stunning .01 seconds before flopping to the floor, betrayed by his own numb foot. Luffy hears Law scoff at him he thinks. He rolls over to look up and catches Law looking back down at him, bemused smirk on his face as he stands there, holding Roci just a few centimeters from where he would’ve bashed his face into a cupboard.

“Can’t believe we’re stuck with this-“ Law starts when Roci cuts him off.

"Why didn't you just take him back out to his boat if you didn't want him around?" Roci asks, righting himself. He turns to reach over the front burner of the gas range that he's unknowingly left on to stir a pot on the back burner. A flame starts to crawl up onto the elbow of his long-sleeve shirt, charing it black. The scent of singed fibers rises into the air but Roci doesn't even seem to notice any of it. Luffy opens his mouth to say something, but Law’s got it again.

While mumbling something about 'no boat' and 'goddamn sharks', he reaches with one tentacle, tossing an oven mitt to another, which he uses to pat out the fire on Roci's sleeve. Luffy can't decide if the Roci is unimaginably clumsy or if having so much stuff crammed into one tiny place just makes it seem so.

The thought also crosses Luffy’s mind that maybe staring at them is rude, but they don't really seem to be paying much attention to him at all, and he's kind of mesmerized by the way Law's tentacles continue to slide around the cramped area. Sure, multi-tasking is a thing, but Law is more like multi-multi-multi tasking. He's now opening the oven, reaching into it to get something, grabbing an extra serving dish from the cupboard, fishing around in the refrigerator, tapping one tentacle on the side of the refrigerator as if it’s helping him consider what he wants in there, all at once.

Luffy wishes he had at least one of those tasks to distract him. The scents he’s catching make his hunger swell and he swears his stomach is going to starting to eat itself any minute now. Everything just smells so tasty. The aroma of seasoned poultry, the tang of fresh-ground pepper and deep buttery scents all come wafting over from the kitchen. It's enough to make his long-empty stomach grumble. It almost seems to be mocking Law who is still mumbling angrily under his breath as he attempts to make his case to Roci.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s just in a mood,” Roci tells Luffy as he strides into the dining area, setting down a bowl of potatoes. He gives Luffy a sympathetic smile.

"I saw that look," Law accuses, "Do _not_ get attached to the kid." He easily grabs up the remaining dishes and a pitcher of filtered water. He wriggles into the dining area, slamming the dishes onto the table, doing nothing to mask his annoyance.

"It's Luffy," Luffy reminds him, reaching across the table to snatch up a chicken leg from one of the plates. "I'm 19," he adds for good measure.

"Yeah, we know who you are. Of all the people-," Law grumbles, slithering into a chair. "You're just lucky I couldn't see your face under that damn diving mask."

"Why?" Luffy asks through a mouthful.

"Why," Law scoffs, as if the answer is obvious.

"Law, cut the kid a break," Roci interjects.

"I'm 19." Luffy reminds them.

They sit there for a minute which feels like years, awkward decades of growing unease, which Law spends glaring daggers at him. Luffy wonders if there’s something he’s missing—muses about the possibility of octo-guys being able to communicate through telepathy or something. Octopuses are supposed to be crazy-smart and he's half human too so maybe it's possible his brain is just really, super advanced or something. That might make telepathy possible, and if not, then he might at least has the ability to read minds.

Luffy jumps reflexively as a tentacle inches up out of the side of his vision to grab a few prawns. He doesn't miss the amused smirk Law shoots at him.

What is his problem? Seriously, who pissed on this guy’s parade? The only thing Luffy has figured out so far is that Law does seem to have a pretty personal dislike of him.

"Wouldn’t you have saved me if you knew who I was?" Luffy asks cautiously, breaking the heavy silence. He is definitely not a mind reader and he really is curious to know why Law seems so mad at him.

Law just narrows his eyes at him, not breaking the eye-contact as he bites the head off of one prawn, its shell crunching loudly between his teeth.

"Law thinks you're trying to poach his ship," Roci speaks up.

"Because he _is_!!" Law interjects. "Famous shipwreck hunter shows up in _my_ territory and you think he's just there for a casual visit!?"

"All that territorial nonsense," Roci sighs, "It's his human side, I swear. I have not known cephalopods to be so possessive."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting someone to excavate my fuckin' home!" Law cries.

"Law, you know you can come and live here with me," Roci assures him. “It would be good for you to have some company. I worry when you don’t visit for so long.”

"And what am I supposed to do when you bring your marine biologist friends home from work and they start getting in my shit? Those assholes have no concept of personal space."

Luffy feels like he's watching a conversation that's been hashed out by the two of them countless times—an impasse between father and child. They way they interact really does make them seem like family even though they hardly resemble each other.

"Law, it's unhealthy to have no social life," Roci is pointing out now. "Besides, the Oro Jackson isn't actually yours."

Luffy nearly chokes on his meat. "Th- the- the Oro Jackson!? It’s the Oro Jackson?! The Pirate King’s ship?! You mean you guys really know where it is?!" he sputters. "You gotta show me!"

" _See!_ " Law stands, gesturing toward Luffy as if the evidence is damningly obvious. "I _told_ you he's after my ship!"

"Luffy, why don't you try calling your friends to let them know you’re safe," Roci suggests suddenly. He jumps up to hastily dig into his pocket for his phone, fingers fumbling, dropping it into the potatoes.

"No. NO! The last thing I need are more people after my ship!" Law protests, but Roci has already pulled Luffy up from the table and slapped a potato-coated phone into his palm.

"Don't be so paranoid. He's just calling to figure out how he's getting back home," Roci says, shooting him a pleading look, and with that Luffy finds himself shoved through a sliding glass door onto the apartment’s small balcony.

The town's lights sparkle through the trees below like tiny pinpoints of light, reflecting across the bay. It almost seems as if the stars have fallen to Earth for how dark the sky is. Heavy dark clouds still blanket the expanse. Either they’re still shedding a few droplets of rain, or it’s the cold wind that’s shaking the moisture from the trees.

Luffy has to swipe his thumb over the phone screen to get rid of the rogue raindrops. He takes a moment to lick the bits of potato from his hand and rub the back of the phone clean on his borrowed shirt while he’s at it. He tries tapping in the number he thinks is Nami's and waits for the inevitable earful he's going to get if she picks up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nami, I-"

"Luffy!! You goddamn idiot!! Where the hell have you been!?"

"Don't worry, I'm safe." He says. A litany of curse words and threats of dismembering him sound from the other side of the door. "At least I think I am," he adds. “By the way, how’s the Merry?”

“She’s not in the best condition but she’s seen worse. Franky’s going to start on repairs in the morning.”

“I’m gonna need you guys to come for me then,” Luffy says, grinning as he plays with the hem of his borrowed tee shirt. He can just imagine the exasperated look on her face. He can’t help it if it’s kinda funny.

“You might be waiting a few days, Luffy.” Nami says like she’s purposely trying to emphasize how much of an inconvenience he’s being personally. “We can’t send the lifeboat ashore to bring you. _Some idiots-_ ”

“Sorry!” Usopp cried in the background.

“-thought that ‘modifying’ the only lifeboat was a good idea, and now _that’s_ in pieces,” Nami sighed. She sounded more exasperated than usual, “just text me the address you’re at and hang in until we can come to get you.”

“Okay-“

And she’s hung up without letting him finish what he was going to say. She must be extra angry this time. He probably should’ve apologized.

Luffy waits a while after hanging up the phone. It’s a little chilly out with the wind and looming storm clouds but it’s still kind of nice to take in the fresh air while he looks down on all the little cars and people moving about below like a miniature civilization.

He wonders if Roci will come and get him once he’s done debating Law. Luffy’s more than done with Law. It’s not his fault Law lives in a shipwreck. And all he does is want to discover it. To Luffy it’s more about the adventure of it than looting priceless artifacts anyway. He doubts Law would listen to him at all though.

Luffy’s just glad Law’s not around by the time he goes back in and explains the situation to Roci who generously offers to let him stay.

“It’s really no trouble at all. It’ll be nice to have company,” Roci tells him with a smile. “I just hope you don’t mind sleeping in the living room. Pull out the other side, would you,” he instructs Luffy, taking hold of the sofa. He nearly knocks over the tv as they open it up into a bed.

“What about Law?” Luffy asks. He doesn’t mind sleeping in the living room. His only concern is running into him again.

“He’s hiding in his room,” Roci says. “I don’t think he’ll bother you anymore tonight.”

Luffy hopes so. He just doesn’t expect that the next time Law bothers him that it’ll be for a good reason.

… … … … …

“Hey.” Law’s voice rouses Luffy from his sleep.

Luffy can’t see him for the blinding darkness that surrounds them but he can feel his presence—his weight on the corner of the sofa-bed.

“I’ve decided to let you see the Oro Jackson on one condition,” Law says. “There’s something I need from you.”


End file.
